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[Guide] Things To Know Before Applying: Teacher & Professor Edition

HighlightedTwin

Level 87
Asleepaholic
Asleepaholic
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Hihi! Welcome to the official/nonofficial/re-official/unofficial guidebook for teaching!
You’re viewing this either because you’re interested in becoming a teacher/professor or because you’re interested in what I have to say!
This is not just a simple guide but also things you should know and understand before applying!

The teaching side of the education faction is fun!
❧ The pay is great!
❧ The rewards are great! (A free house)
❧ The recognition is great! (Promotions & trophies if they still have those)
❧ The popularity is great! (Becoming well known)

Now if any of these reasons I listed are your goals while being a teacher/professor, understandably money, you may not survive for a good month to a month and a half at most! Don’t be afraid! You are simply just missing the vital strength you need which is passion.

However, passion isn’t going to carry you through to the very end all alone as I’ve seen countless friends and coworkers with lots of passion for what they do, quit after stress built up from teaching. So! In my hopes of not having to see a fallen comrade lose their spirits and will to teach, I’ve created this guide to prepare you for the good and bad!


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Let's take a look at the classroom! Assuming you are indeed a new teacher/professor, you’re getting ready to teach your very first class. Your palms are sweaty, your hands are shaky, your heart beats faster the closer time gets to the period you’re teaching, and the next thing you know, you’re standing in front of many faces with high expectations of you to teach them something. You’re nervous but you mix the fear with being excited as well. It’s scary, I know! All of us have been in that position before, especially the long-lasting soldiers who sit in the Head of Department position.

I’m sure there are people who remember having to step in for the teacher/professor and teach the class, way before solutions were introduced. I don’t blame them as they most likely broke down due to the pressure! I mean, back then you were sent into the battlefield with little to no knowledge of class procedures and were told to do your best and make classes fun. So let me give you information about the classroom setting!

Student Behavior
Student behavior is something you definitely cannot completely control in a classroom. This leaves endless possibilities of what can happen in the class and there aren't many examples given by higher-ups or even HDs that can help you deal with a situation in front of you. Some situations can become overwhelming when you have to deal with a big group of misbehaving students or even the whole class!

My simple solution to it is kicking out the problematic student or having a talk with them after class. However, I’ve noticed most teachers/professors would rather keep said students in the class and continue an argument with them. Then this causes problems for everyone within the class. If you don’t have the experience nor know how to “assert dominance” as the adult of the classroom, you are pretty much screwed! This is when the stress kicks in!

That is why our handy dandy SLT came up with a ‘FearRP’ system when it comes down to taking disciplinary actions upon a student:
Few Warnings ➡ Detention Threat ➡ Detention ➡ SLT Involvement

This little guide for fearRP is simple yet helpful when understanding when it should be enacted and how to deal with misbehaving students. If there are any situations you’re dealing with that you’re confused about or having trouble with, call for assistance with your in-game radio! You may even screenshot what happened and ask an SLT directly for advice via Discord.

[Solution] Unqualified
As I said previously, there were quite a handful of times where people had to step in to teach a class for the teacher/professor before solutions were brought to the table! The main solution was the introduction of the ‘Unqualified’ Role. I prefer to say ‘untrained’ though as it makes a little more sense. You wouldn’t accept someone who isn’t qualified but you would accept someone who is qualified yet lacks experience meaning they need training (a bit of a rant).

The ‘unqualified’ role saves you a ‘bit’ of trouble from dealing with misbehaving students on your own for some time until you are deemed fit for the next role in the hierarchy:
Teacher » NQT or Newly Qualified Teacher
Professor » AP or Associate Professor

So even if you are saved by your role, just a bit, that doesn’t mean you won’t come face-to-face with some students who act out. The sole resource of relying on passion only can cause frustration if things don’t go the way you really planned. This is why those who have lots of passion for teaching end up getting stressed out and eventually quit if things don't ‘change’.

[Solution] Radio
Mentioned briefly, the radio you’re given in-game has been introduced in order for the flood of intercoms for assistance to be limited to class calls only. This was also helpful so that not only the teaching squad, but school employees and council members including SLT can ALL hear and know what’s going on at the same time!

The introduction of radio has been the most helpful asset to the entire education faction as it is indeed being used daily as a means of instant communication with all employees on school grounds. I’ve personally never seen it used for calling assistance in a classroom but it’s a possibility! Also you aren’t allowed to use it outside of school. So don’t try to call up your coworkers to have dinner. It’s strictly supposed to be used during school hours.


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Now that the bad stuff is out the way, time to move on to something a little more fun to think about!

You’re ready to apply and you’re so eager to finally teach a class but the question you ask yourself is what subject will you teach. SLT and anybody part of the teaching squad would highly recommend teaching a subject you have knowledge in. This is actually a good option to go by when choosing a subject. You may not need to do lots of research and you’re able to think of lessons much more quickly. However, this is not your only deciding factor when choosing a subject.

Each subject can be labeled as two different class types:
❧ Action Based Classes
❧ Teaching Based Classes

Both types can be used in a subject but in order to understand their differences, I’ll explain further!

Action Based Classes are usually subjects that can be taught with a lot more actions and a little less paper, pen or pencil, and a teacher lecture. A prime example would be P.E. or Physical Education. Actions Based Classes may require movement either with your keyboard or using /me and /it. I personally took on an action-based class ‘Culinary’, which I found to be quite fun and enjoyable. These types of classes are actually a lot more fun and relaxing as it's basically a way for people to hone their detailRP skills while also being able to learn a thing or two!

Teaching Based Classes are of course the opposite of action-based. They require students with pens and papers while the teacher gives a lecture. These kinds of classes use a considerably smaller amount of actions. A prime example is core classes such as Math and English. It definitely sounds boring but to make it less boring, it is highly encouraged to throw some games and moving-based activities in between lessons to make the classes more enjoyable for both parties. The first-ever subject I took was Science (Biology) and I did a LOT of physical and mental activities in between lessons or during lessons to make the class seem more fun and engaging.

A very common type of activity would be trivia! Splitting the class in half as two different teams. Then picking team leaders to answer questions you give them. Team leaders work with their teams to figure out the answer in a set amount of time. Towards the end of class, the team with the most points wins and the reward you give them is up to you! This isn’t the only form that trivia can be played in but it’s one way to make class lessons engaging while also being able to educate your students. So if you were thinking about choosing a teaching-based subject, this method is your golden ticket for making teaching seem more fun!


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As we start coming to a close there are just a few more points I’ll have to state! Now assuming you have decided to apply and are so excited to become part of the teaching squad, you may want to start writing down lesson plans. The first time I became a teacher, I was teaching Science (Biology). I did make a good sum of lesson plans starting out but I slowly stopped and started to wing my lessons! Why? Because I already know what I would and can teach my class without the use of lesson planning. How? Because I already took biology and know a good chunk of it to be able to teach the class!

Now I obviously highly recommend you use lesson planning. Ask an HD of your department for help with this because it isn’t easy to know where to start or even how to start. I’m sure many teachers and professors have different ways and methods of writing their lessons down so it’s better to take inspiration from them.

Plagiarism
Let’s talk about this big guy here. Plagiarism is definitely not tolerated, not only by SLT but also the students as well and they will be very vocal about it. This is the trap that many new teachers and professors fall into easily and it's sad to see. Some will try to argue that it's researched from a website and try to paraphrase as best as they could. So how do they get caught or at least called out for copying and pasting? It’s very simple yet overlooked and I’ve seen it happen a lot.

I don’t really pay attention when I’m in another teacher’s/professor’s classroom for whatever reason, completely zoning out but I do catch a glimpse and go back into zoning out once I see the big paragraphs in chat. Yes. That is correct. Essays of text. Not even simple actions in between words. Nothing but a giant flood of texts. Does anyone actually read it all? Yes because it's knowledge but realistically I wouldn’t want to sit there reading it all.

But what’s the problem here? What’s the possible solution?

Teachers and professors spend a lot of time doing research on their subject in order to create lesson plans and some fail to be able to summarize what they found because it’s either very difficult to make it sound summarized or because they just don’t know how to. The other issue is that they are so passionate about teaching that they try to squeeze in a huge amount of information in a small time frame that SRP allows per period which causes the huge flooded paragraphs in chat.

[Solution] Spicy Knowledge
» The key solution to these issues is by first asking yourself what exactly are you trying to teach your class and what's the end goal for it.

Explanation: If you were teaching History and the unit that you wanted to discuss was on the topic of war, you should ask yourself what about war do you want to educate your students on specifically and how do you plan to end the topic. War is a broad topic so instead of talking about one war and trying to educate your students on it, maybe you’d rather talk about war and its effects on civilization. Meaning instead of me educating you on what happened with a war back in the hundreds, I would say:

The war between lands was devastating and caused an impact on civilization. Many people were required to scavenge for food for their family’s survival during these harsh times.

Instead of a copy and pasted backstory on a specific war. It’s okay to use the backstory of a specific war as in a quick one-sentence summary of who was fighting and why to use it as an example to supplement the rest of the lesson. I don’t know a darn thing about history but I’d be fully paying attention to what I just said rather than seeing essays in the chat. This is also saying it is perfectly okay to break off text after 3-4 sentences. You have to let people adjust to information that's heavily packed when it comes to teaching-based classes.

[Solution] Spicy Research
» The reason you would need to research your subject is that you are clueless as to what to teach. That’s okay! So here’s a solution to your big problem. Research and write down every interesting fact that you may want the students to learn. Then put everything together to form your lesson after paraphrasing. After that, ask help from your fellow squad members to help with paraphrasing. Bear with me because it may sound difficult.

Explanation: You go to Employee A and ask them to paraphrase in the best way possible, the lesson you wrote. After that, take the paraphrased lesson that Employee A gave you and ask Employee B to paraphrase. This can keep going until you feel satisfied or confident enough that the paraphrased version of what you researched seems nearly completely different. You cannot rely on this method for all of your lessons forever but it is a good way to teach yourself how to paraphrase and summarize what you researched on your own!


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Now if after reading this guide you feel a bit uneasy or conflicted, here are a few words from our sponsors!

"Teaching can be hard but if you have a strong passion for it you can get better at it and just try the best you can!"
-[Teacher] GhostlyRebel

“First of, you have to balance out between strictness and normalside. Since overall this makes the classes well boring, aswell it gives you flare. Another thing if they want to make a test, instead of using book and quills for tests use google forms. This makes the grading more easy and makes it not stressful to grade and such thats all”
-[Professor] oceannam

“Well to be honest my Motivation was the lesson I'm gonna be teaching in general. I had an amazing teacher teach me about health occupations and I wanted to Educate others about the amazing subject and teach them about the world of hospitals and nursing.”
-[Professor] Skorched

“LK's advice for teaching
1) Try not to let the people misbehaving stress you out. Just humor it and deal with it maturely. Screen shot or record it and a HD+ could really give advice how you can handle that situation better. Take it as counselling and not offense and you wont have anything to threat. Remember this is a RP server not virtual school, so dont just be getting annoying and making there RP miserable cause it makes teaching more convenient.

2) Don't just try to be realistic with your teaching to actually teach people. Make your classes engaging, like make your assignments require lots of action and moving around. Dont just make them write something or answer questions.

3) Know coming into the faction that you are subjected to icly and oocly harassments and you need to be able to deal with this, as well as knowing this job takes dedication to plan classes and doing the amount required!”
-[Professor] LK_Gaming

“don't apply for a teacher/professor if you don't have time and just wants an adult tag”
-[Teacher] Hatola

“make sure they have a lot of spare time, because it takes a lot of time to get online, host classes, detention, make lesson plans, make bulletin posts, etc.”
-[Teacher] snocherry

“- Dont be too strict be sort of loose and have fun (for teachers)-
- Dont teach actual real knowledge classes too much. Make sure if you do there's a game involved, want to keep the students engaged. I know for a fact they dont like doing actual learning and all they just like to play games and have fun
- Try and say in the intercoms if you’re doing a field trip, you are or people will be unprepared
- And try to join in on the games if you're a teacher to encourage and get the students motivated and join in.”
-[Teacher] DivingBlue

“try to make ur lessons as fun as possible, if they're winged or boring you not only make it harder on urself but ur students as well. reward people who detailrp. make special events such as contests. take some time off here n there it can be mentally draining deal with students. pair up w other professors to make fun classes. also being nice as a prof will get everyone to love you and its really heartwarming to see everyone appreciate u”
-[Professor] Ne0nPlanet


"1. Detentions: Even though the guide for teachers say that you have to give 3 warnings before giving detention, this is not required to be strictly followed, you could give 1 or no warning at all and go straight to detention, it all depends on the severity of what the student(s) have done, for example knocking out someone, carrying a weapon, selling items that are 20+ to high schoolers, and well you get the idea.

2. FearRP: When a student refuses to listen to a teacher or any school faculty after being given detention, they can be told to fearRP in /looc. The confusion here is that some players believe that they don't have to fearRP if they ate wearing a mask, fearRP applies to everyone no matter if it's an attire, full-body suits, etc. As a part of fearRP, students aren't allowed to assault school faculty, just like teachers aren't allowed to make any physical contact in an act of aggression, is goes the same for students, a simple push or pull to escape a teacher isn't allowed.

3. Class calls: It is recommended to call your class as soon as you are sure to be online during the period for that class, this is because as more teachers are being hired, there’s going to be less room for classes, and you can’t have too many classes open at once due to the number of students that joins them. For example, a class with 3 students isn’t worth it.

4. If you’re taking the teacher role just for yen or just to get attention/clout, just quit. You’ll begin to feel like you’re actually working and no longer have fun. "
-[Teacher] OGMint

"Well my advice would be, just try your best to act more professional around misbehaving students, yes they can be annoying, but you just have to push through because they can be quite annoying at times."

-[Teacher] suzallo

“if you think you can deal with the stress of having a lot of failrpers/glitchers and want to put up with annoying students and giving them detention join today <o/“
-[Teacher] recherry

Conclusion
Thanks for reading and thanks to all who gave coolio advice! If you want to spread your own advice as a person who used to be part of the teaching squad or is still in it don’t be afraid to DM me so that I can include it in the advice section or write it below! If you have questions about this guide in specific you may also dm me and if you have questions about applying, make sure to dm either faction leads! Credits to @LK Gaming for the screenshots!
 
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